Do not take life for granted

Last Wednesday I woke up with a terrible "cramp" in my left calf. I shrugged it off and figured it wold get better..As day went on I was trying to my normal things, but it was apparent that the calf would continue to be an issue.

I work 2nd shift so I went to work. About 3 hours in, I couldnt lift foot to much and I had to walk by sliding my foot.

I had a feeling it was a blood clot as my calf swelled very much.I had a clot 2 years ago and this felt the same. I have a blood clotting issue (factor 5) and makes me develop clots more easily than a normal person..I was on meds for it for over a year and was told that I could start to take baby aspirin.

At 7pm, I couldnt take it and left work to go to er.

Ultrasound on calf confirmed it was a clot. The standard procedure is do cat scan of lungs to make sure none were there.

Dr came back in to see me..Check my vital signs and said everything looks good on my vitals and that he was surprised. He explained I had extensive clots in both lungs.

He was not sure why my blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels were all with in normal range. He said that if I would have waited to much longer I would have been brought in by ambulance, or not made it in at all.

Hearing those words makes you really hits home. You cant just take things for granted.

I am on the road to getting better but my lungs hurt, I can hardly walk to far, and I have coughing attacks that last for minutes.

I didnt write this for sympathy, but to convey the message to enjoy the people in your life, you never know when you will see them again.

All to often we take our health for granted. Until something like this happens. I know I have been doing better over the years in taking care of myself and my health. It's never to late. There are plenty of thing you can do. Blood clotting is a bad one because it's one of those that you don't know you have a problem until you end up in the ER. Last year we lost a good friend. She was doing a cardio kick boxing class. They were on the floor stretching when she had a brain aneurism. She died 7 days later. She was 46 with two young kids. You would have never guessed she had problems. But she had been complaining about bad headaches for months and never did anything about it. Generally your body will let you know when there is a problem. Trick is, recognizing the fact that your body is talking to you. As you get older it's easier to do because you are thinking about it.

And don't always assume your doctor is correct. Never, ever hesitate to get a second or third opinion. Or for that matter try something different. My wife, son and myself see an acupuncturist. Yup old school Chinese needles. He has a picture in is office of the Aurora Borealis. I asked him who took it. This is the story he told me. He had an eye surgeon come to him one day. She had been having problems with her right eye. She was in a lot of pain and her eye hurt with any kind of light. Well, her fellow eye surgeons and specialists could find nothing wrong over a 9 month period. It got so bad she could no longer work. Their solution, take out the eye. Which of course would have ended her career. So before she did that, she came to see him. Over 3 one hour sessions he took care of the pain and the problem. Since then she has had no problems. Well the picture is something she promised him if he could help her. She said she go north to Alaska and see it if he could help her.

My grandpa died at 88. The only reason he cut down smoking was when he lost a lung in a car accident when he was about 60-65. My dad was/ is a 2 pack / day smoker and is coming up on 80. Neither had cancer. I personally think that getting diseases from smoking has more to do with the genetic lottery. Most people lose in that one.

My grandpa died at 88. The only reason he cut down smoking was when he lost a lung in a car accident when he was about 60-65. My dad was/ is a 2 pack / day smoker and is coming up on 80. Neither had cancer. I personally think that getting diseases from smoking has more to do with the genetic lottery. Most people lose in that one.

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I did not know your grandpa. All the smokers that I have known have died young. Maybe they die because they smoke or maybe they die young because they know me. Good that your grandpa did not know me, he may have died much younger.

My grandpa died at 88. The only reason he cut down smoking was when he lost a lung in a car accident when he was about 60-65. My dad was/ is a 2 pack / day smoker and is coming up on 80. Neither had cancer. I personally think that getting diseases from smoking has more to do with the genetic lottery. Most people lose in that one.

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Almost a year now that my dad passed...He was 86, smoked since he was 15 or so..

Bladder cancer got him..The smoking "leftovers" from your kidneys sit in your bladder..Over time it does get you

My Dad at one time smoked 40/60 a day. Later in life he smoked about 20 a day, then just quit one day completely cold turkey. He died three years ago with Asbestosis through years of working with it. Funny thing was all the specialists said there was NO damage at all from the smoking at all which surprised everybody. He was 86

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I did not know your dad. Everyone I have known who smoked died young. If you smoke do not get to know me.